For a moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt like he'd been played.
Hadn't the reports said this kid had been slacking off lately?
Yet looking at the forest of towering trees ahead—formed by massive trunks and roots—feeling the chakra rolling out of it, and that surging, vigorous life force…
For a split second, he honestly wondered if ANBU had a mole.
Was this kid really slacking?
"Y-you…" Hiruzen went silent for a long time before finally forcing out a sentence.
"You… already learned it?"
"Isn't it… actually not that hard?" Ren blinked.
To him, it genuinely wasn't.
At Wood Release LV6, no matter how you looked at it, that was jōnin-level territory.
At that level, many techniques weren't as impossible to learn as people imagined.
Of course, pulling out their full effect still depended on overall capabilities and the technique's own level.
Put simply: LV6 gave him a jōnin baseline, and if he poured enough chakra into it, the technique's power scaled even higher.
Ren was satisfied with that.
The human body was linked; there was no such thing as one ability being absurdly high while all related capabilities were garbage.
Even Kisame—who practically lived inside Water Release—if he didn't have chakra reserves that were basically tailed-beast-tier, his Water Release wouldn't look so godlike.
"Not hard…" Hiruzen's mouth twitched again.
He glanced at the enormous trees once more and fell into speechless disbelief.
And he hadn't forgotten what he'd promised earlier.
There was no way he could now say, with a straight face, This isn't good enough.
"Hokage-sama," Ren asked, "does that mean I can go meet Lady Tsunade now?"
Hiruzen hesitated.
Then, finally, he sighed and nodded.
"Fine. The mission is yours."
No matter how reluctant he was, he didn't have a better choice.
And thinking carefully—
sending Ren wasn't a bad option.
Ren's Wood Release had already reached this level.
And with Uchiha Obito—damn him—also possessing Wood Release, Tsunade would be more likely to return once she heard.
"This time," Hiruzen added, "take your own squad."
"Having Yugao with you will help keep you from acting rashly. And letting Shisui go out for some air… isn't a bad thing either."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Ren answered immediately.
He was already familiar with that squad. Bringing people he trusted made sense.
As for "letting Shisui get some air"—
Ren didn't even need to ask. The Uchiha were probably losing their minds by now.
A Mangekyō Sharingan left inside ANBU?
The clan would be frothing.
— — —
"Hard to believe we're going to search for Lady Tsunade…"
Deep in the forests of the Land of Fire, three figures flashed across branches, racing toward the Land of Cedar.
On the way, Yugao couldn't help voicing her awe.
As a half-trained medical-nin, she respected Tsunade immensely.
Honestly, no medical-nin in Konoha could ignore Tsunade's existence.
But Yugao still glanced at Ren.
She understood—bringing Tsunade back was probably for his sake.
"It's not that strange," Ren shrugged, picking up speed. "Obito has Wood Release too, remember?"
Then he looked toward Shisui, who had been unusually quiet.
"What's wrong? You've been gloomy. Didn't you learn anything in ANBU?"
"That's not it," Shisui came back to himself and smiled, shaking his head.
"There's a lot to learn in ANBU."
He didn't regret staying there.
It prevented trouble, and it gave him room to think.
He had to admit…
sometimes his thinking really was too naïve.
There were things he simply couldn't untangle—like that conversation from a month ago, the story Ren told him.
To be honest, at the time, Shisui had felt a rush of impulse to go ask the Third Hokage.
But loyalty kept him from betraying Ren.
And when he cooled down and thought again—
he realized even if he went, it would be useless.
Ren hadn't named anyone.
He hadn't slandered Danzō even once.
It was just a story with meaning.
Whatever conclusions Shisui drew—those were his own.
Even if Ren might be "affected," the one who'd suffer most would be Shisui himself.
Once Shisui understood that, a heaviness settled into him.
And looking back on everything in Sunagakure…
Ren wasn't just strong.
He was a man who knew how to use plans.
He'd analyzed Suna's situation, captured Pakura, and forced Suna into obedient "ally" status.
He'd dissected Obito's abilities through the Sharingan and made Obito lose again and again.
And now, with only a story, he'd made Shisui realize things he'd never dared face.
That kind of skill made Shisui feel both respect… and pressure.
"Danzō… the clan…"
"I have to do something."
Shisui repeated it internally—yet he still hadn't figured out how.
But he'd made one decision:
A decision to act.
A decision to strike, if necessary.
The method would come later.
Or maybe…
he should ask more questions.
"Then why are you so quiet?" Ren pressed, puzzled.
Shisui smiled. "Maybe because you two haven't noticed."
"The Land of Cedar has had trouble lately."
"Their secret technique scroll was stolen."
"Oh?" Ren and Yugao both looked over, surprised.
Shisui continued. "From what I've heard… it was likely Kumogakure again."
"But the Land of Cedar has hired the 'shinobi hunters'—the Xuanyuan group—to capture the thief."
"It just so happens Lady Tsunade is also here."
"I'm… a little worried."
Kumogakure really did act like bandits.
Stealing, snatching, and looting secret techniques—countless cases.
But because their overall power was strong, small countries and minor villages could only retaliate quietly or lodge a token protest.
If Kumo ever came down in full force…
the result would be annihilation.
Ren didn't like Kumo. Not one bit.
Their methods. Their attitude. Everything about it.
Still, it wasn't his problem today.
They had their own mission.
They sped onward, entered the Land of Cedar, and after a day's travel reached the location indicated by intelligence.
But the moment they pushed open the doors of a casino—
they froze.
"Lady Tsunade, please stop—!"
Shizune, clutching a pink pig, was pleading desperately.
But Tsunade had already gone bloodshot with gambling fever.
"Don't distract me," Tsunade snapped. "One last round!"
"Bets placed—no more changes," the dealer said, trembling.
Tsunade slammed her chips down and shouted without restraint:
"Big! Big! BIG!"
Ren walked over quietly—
then casually tossed his own money onto Small.
And in his heart, he couldn't help sighing.
"Yeah…"
"Those really are… big, big, big."
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